Five Minutes to Midnight
by Thalia Marie Grace
Summary: Five minutes to midnight, and Clary has given up hope. Because apparently, the entire world seems to be against her when she finally has an opportunity to to kiss her not-but-hopefully-almost boyfriend on New Year's Eve.


**Author's Note: It is two-thirty in the morning on the first of January and I wanted to write this. You're welcome. Unless you hate it. Then I'm sorry for wasting your time.**

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><p><strong>Five Minutes to Midnight<strong>

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><p><em>10:00 p.m.<em>

Clary Morgenstern is seventeen, and for the first time in her life, she will have a New Year's kiss.

Well, not _technically _the first time—when she was one to when she was five, she kissed Simon, until her mother explained that Simon was like her brother and that kissing her brother was weird.

(Simon was not too happy about that.)

But this year is different, because this year, she actually has a boyfriend that she will be spending New Year's Eve with.

Well, actually...she _hopes _to have a boyfriend.

She arrives at the Lightwood household, which is equipped with its own library (that she spends more than enough time in), and is not surprised to find it jam-packed with people.

Isabelle Lightwood, Clary's very-close, almost-best friend, has been raving about this party for weeks. She is a big party planner, and she is a social butterfly; Isabelle Lightwood is everything that Clary is not. But Clary loves her anyway, which is exactly why she is at this party.

"Clary!" Isabelle gives the redhead a tight hug. "Hey!"

"Hi!" Clary hugs her back, beaming. "Question: did you invite the whole freaking school to this party?"

"Just about." she muses, lifting one shoulder in a half-shrug. "Plus Alec's boyfriend. Speaking of boyfriends—yours is...ah, shit, he was just here. Uh, he's somewhere around here."

"He's not my boyfriend, Isabelle." Clary is blushing deeply.

Isabelle shrugs. "He will be."

"You don't know that! Anyway...I'll find him at some point." Clary reassures her. Her face is still red. "Where's Simon?"

"Library." Isabelle answers, and then with a slight blush, she adds, "Do you think he'd be willing to kiss me at midnight?"

"Hell yes!" Clary is beaming. "Don't tell him I told you, Izzy, but's been in love with you since he first met you!"

Isabelle blushes again. "Really?"

"Really! Do you want me to go talk to him?"

"Uh...yes, please."

"I will as soon as I document this moment: Isabelle Lightwood with boy troubles." the redhead teases, and Isabelle hits her arm with a giggle. "I'll be back with him soon. Text me if you find Jace, okay?"

"Okay." Isabelle replies, still blushing as Clary pushes through the crowd, which abruptly stops before reaching the hallways. She heads down to the library and pulls it open.

"Clary!" Max hops up from the couch and hugs her. "Hi! Happy New Year!"

"We've got a couple hours until 2015, Max," she reminds him with a smile, but she hugs him back. "What are you doing in here?"

Max pouts. "Izzy said I couldn't be at the party. _So..._Simon offered to watch _The Avengers _with me."

"Did he?" Clary raises her eyebrow at her best friend, who blushes in response. "I think he's just trying to please your sister."

"I am not!" Simon argues. But he totally is, and he knows it as well as Clary does.

Max ignores it as he plops back down on the couch, just as Simon stands up. "Jace came in here a couple minutes ago." Simon tells her. "He was looking for you."

"Well, if he comes back in here, then tell him I'm looking for him, too." Clary sighs. "How come I have a feeling we'll be chasing each other around all night?"

Simon shrugs. "Because your life sucks?"

"Well, yours doesn't." Clary nudges his shoulder. "Izzy wants you to be her New Year's kiss."

His eyes widen in surprise. "You're kidding."

"I'm cruel, but I'm not _that _cruel." she laughs. "Go talk to her when the movie's over. Or when Max falls asleep. Meanwhile, I'm going to go and find Jace."

"Good luck." Simon squeezes her hand. By the time Clary leaves the library, he's already sitting on the couch again, blushing madly.

* * *

><p><em>11:00 p.m.<em>

By the time Clary finally catches Jace, it's been over an hour.

"Hey!" she grasps his arm. "Where the hell is your phone?"

"It got ran over by a car last week, remember?" Jace points out, and she curses, because she definitely remembers him telling her about that. Damn it. "I should have borrowed Alec's or Mom's so I could have found you earlier but—wow."

She blinks. "What?"

"You look beautiful." he tells her honestly, and then he bends down to take her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "Don't let go of my hand, all right? I'd prefer not to lose you an hour before midnight. You're not the only one looking forward to the countdown, you know."

His grin is teasing and almost cocky and light and she's blushing deeply. "I never said I was," argues Clary, punching his arm. She thinks to herself how lucky she is for having a boyfriend—well, a (hopefully) almost boyfriend—who doesn't care that she's a little violent. Plus, he insists that he doesn't feel it (and then he proceeds to tell her that her punches are too weak).

"I know." Jace responds, grinning a little wider. His grip on her hand is tight. "Well, we've got an hour until 2015, and I intend to spend every minute of it with you."

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><p><em>11:20 p.m.<em>

She lost him again.

She'd turned around for one minute to say hello to Tessa Gray and Will Herondale—who happens to be a cousin of Jace's—and when she'd turned back, Jace was gone.

Well, _shit._

"Clary!"

Half-expecting Jace, she turns—but it's Simon.

"Is Max asleep?" she inquires, and he nods. "If you're looking for Izzy, she's in the kitchen."

"Awesome. Thank you." Simon exhales. "I just passed Jace, by the way. He's—"

"—looking for me, I know." Clary sighs. "I lost him again. If you find him—"

"—call you." Simon finishes for her. He kisses her forehead chastely, and then he brushes past her toward the kitchen.

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><p><em>11:40 p.m.<em>

Clary has circled the house at least three times, and she hasn't seen any sign of Jace. Where the hell could he be?

She checks her phone. Twenty minutes to midnight. She sighs, pockets her phone, and then heads back into the foyer.

Maybe she'll find him this time.

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><p><em>11:50 p.m.<em>

Ten minutes. She has ten minutes and she has no idea if she can find him in time.

On her fourth circle around the house, she passes by Tessa and Will—"Jace was _just _here, Clary; he said he was headed toward the kitchen."—Isabelle and Simon—"He literally _just _left." Isabelle promises Clary. "You can probably still catch him." ("You have the worst luck in the world." Simon tells her. "We should put a dog leash on the two of you to keep you two together.")—and even Alec and Magnus, who tell her that they have no idea where the hell Jace is.

Well, this is great.

She sighs and pulls her hair back in a ponytail.

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><p><em>11:55 p.m.<em>

Five minutes to midnight, and Clary has given up hope. Because apparently, the entire world seems to be against her when she finally has an opportunity to to kiss her not-but-hopefully-almost boyfriend on New Year's Eve.

She hates sounding like one of those girls who gets all depressed about not having a New Year's kiss because she _isn't. _She's more than willing to wait until next year (that is, assuming that Jace will actually ask her out and they'll actually still be dating by next year), and she shouldn't even be expecting anything because they _aren't _dating and she doesn't know if they _will _be dating—other than the fact that she likes him and she _knows _he like her (thanks to Isabelle).

She leans against the wall, standing by herself, searching the crowd for Jace.

But she doesn't expect to find him.

* * *

><p><em>11:59 p.m.<em>

One minute to midnight.

The ball is already dropping in Times Square, and Clary is watching as the timer hits twenty seconds until midnight.

"Clary?" a voice calls.

Is it Jace? She can't tell over the buzz of the other guests.

The timer hits fifteen.

"Clary!" the voice is closer.

Ten.

"Clary." Jace breathes, suddenly at her elbow. He faces her with his hands on her shoulders. "Thank _God."_

Nine.

"Hey!" Clary is suddenly so relieved that she lets out a breath—a breath that she didn't realise she was holding. (Eight.) "Hey, I'm sorry I didn't stick with you earlier."

Seven.

"It doesn't matter." Jace tells her. (Six.) "I promise. I'm just glad I found you before midnight."

Five. Four.

"Me too." Clary lets out a breath. (Three. Two.) "Because—"

One.

Jace cuts her off, sliding his hands down her arms and pressing his mouth against hers. The cheers of the guests explode around Clary, but she doesn't care—all she can feel is Jace's mouth and the front of his shirt, where her hands are placed, and all she can think is that _this is her first kiss and it's absolutely perfect._

"Happy New Year, Clary," Jace whispers into her mouth.

And he kisses her again after she whispers it back.

* * *

><p><strong>It is now four in the morning.<strong>

**Happy New Year to everyone all over the world! I hope it was awesome and for those of you who had a New Year's kiss, I bet it wasn't as perfect as Clary and Jace's. ;-)**

**Just kidding. I bet it was fantastic. And for those of you who didn't have one, then you and I are in the same boat, my friends! Which is totally cool.**


End file.
